Press Room

FOOD SAFETY UPDATE AT FOSTER FARMS' LIVINGSTON PLANT

1/8/2014
"As part of its commitment to food safety, Foster Farms maintains an ongoing pest control program. This morning, a cockroach was observed during plant operations at the company's Livingston, Calif., plant and the company was notified of four similar incidents since September 2013 in FSIS correspondence today. FSIS maintains a zero tolerance policy and Foster Farms closed the Livingston facility immediately for sanitization and treatment. The company completed the treatment today and will review its program with the FSIS for full approval. This is an isolated incident; no other facilities are affected. Today's treatment is expected to fully resolve this incident. No products are affected. Product production has been transferred to the company's other facilities.

Each day, FSIS inspectors must approve each facility prior to beginning operation. Since September of 2013, FSIS identified a total of five cockroaches in our 315,000 square-foot Livingston plant. The company aggressively addressed each instance to the full satisfaction of the FSIS. A single incident is not acceptable, and we are committed to a zero tolerance policy.

Foster Farms is working in cooperation with the USDA-FSIS to monitor and further reduce Salmonella levels at all stages of production. A series of new, multi-step processes for salmonella control have been developed by the company with the input of national food safety experts. The company is leading a specialized U.S. poultry industry working group dedicated to further reducing Salmonella during the second stage of processing. Foster Farms has formed a Food Safety Advisory Board comprised of leading national food safety experts to validate best practices, evaluate emerging technologies and to help guide the company's food safety systems on an ongoing basis."